February 1, 2016

Administrator: Divestment Announcement Could Come as Early as Tuesday

BySun Staff | February 1, 2016

The University may announce whether it will divest its endowment from the fossil fuels industry as early as today.

Senior-ranking administrators will be meeting with leaders from each of the shared governance groups, which all voted to encourage Cornell to divest, today before any public announcement is made, Joel Malina, vice president for University Relations, told The Sun in an interview Monday.

The announcement could bring discussions surrounding divestment to an end, after the Student Assembly initially called for divestiture in 2013. Both President Emeritus David J. Skorton and President Elizabeth Garrett have voiced their concerns regarding divestment, arguing that doing so is not the right way to affect climate change.

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“In extraordinary circumstances, the trustees may determine that direct financial investment in particular companies associates Cornell with actions or inactions that violate the University’s most deeply held values and, therefore, should be avoided, regardless of potential financial return,” she said.